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upon all of you)

One of our
brothers/sisters has asked this question:

I should be grateful
to you if you could tell me how many wife does Prophet
Muhammad (SAW) have and what are their names. Why does He got
married several times.

(There may be some
grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not
change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our
readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

How many wives did the Prophet
have and Why?

In the name of Allah, We praise
Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none
can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright.
We bear witness that there is no one (no idol,no person,no grave, no prophet,no imam,no dai,nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that
Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your question: I should be
grateful to you if you could tell me how many wife
does Prophet Muhammad (SAW) have and what are their names.

The Messenger of Allah (saws)
married a total of 11 times in his life; but the maximum number of wives he had
at any one time was nine.

KhadijahbinteKhuwailid

Sawdah

Aishabinte Abu Bakr

HafsahbinteUmar al Khattab

ZainabbinteJahsh

Zainab Umm-al-Masaakeen

Juwairiyyah

Saffiyah

Umme-Salamah

Umme-Habibah

Maimunah

Your question:Why does He got
married several times.

There might be several reasons
and wisdoms behind the Prophet’s marriages… to start a family, some to cement his
relationships with his close companions by marrying their daughters, some were
widows of close companions, some were daughters of the leaders of tribes
captured, some because Allah specifically commanded him to marry in the Quran, etc.And one
of the biggest wisdoms from his several marriages was that it was his wives who
related most of the ahaadiths in the words, acts, and
deeds that the Messenger of Allah (saws) did in the privacy of his home.

When Allah revealed the aayah restricting the believers to a maximum of four wives,
it was the norm of the times that most of the believers had more than four
wives; and to comply with the command of Allah Subhanah,
they divorced a number of their wives and kept a maximum of four.These divorced women then married other
believers, if they wished to do so.

Allah Subhanah
declared in the Holy Quran that the Prophet’s wives
were the ‘Mothers of the Believers’, and forbade anyone to marry the wives of
the Messenger (saws), if he divorced them or after he died.

Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 33 SurahAhzaab verse 53 (part):It is not
at all permissible that you should trouble the Messenger of Allah (saws); nor
is it permissible that you should marry his wives after him.This is a grave offence in the sight of
Allah.

When the aayah
restricting the believers to a maximum of four wives was revealed, the
Messenger of Allah (saws) had four wives, namely:HadratAisha, HadratSaudah,HadratHafsah,and Hadrat Umm-Salamah.Then Allah Subhanah
Himself commanded the Prophet (saws) to marry his fifth wife,HadratZainab,who was the
divorcee of his adopted son,HadratZaidibnHarith (r.a.).

In the days of ignorance, the
divorced wife of an adopted son was illegal to the man who adopted that
son.Islam made this permissible, and
to break this false custom once and for all, Allah Subhanah
Himself commanded the Prophet (saws) to marry the divorcee of his adopted son,and make HadratZainab his fifth
wife.

Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 33 SurahAhzaab verse 37:(O Prophet)
remember the time when you were saying to the man (HadratZaid), whom Allah as well as you had favored,“Keep your wife and fear Allah”.You were at that time keeping hidden in your
heart that which Allah intended to reveal.You were fearing the people, whereas Allah has
a greater right that you should fear Him.So, when Zaid had fulfilled his desire of her
(HadratZainab), We
married her to you,so that there remains no hindrance for
the believers in regard to the wives of their adopted son,when they have fulfilled their desire with
them.And Allah’s Command had to be
carried out.

Besides the above, Allah Subhanah gave special permission and gave certain
conditions to the Prophet (saws) to take on extra wives after his fifth wife, HadratZainab,and made it absolutely clear in the Quran, that this permission was only for the Prophet
(saws),in accordance with Divine
Wisdom.

Allah says in the Holy
Quran Chapter 33 SurahAhzaab verses 50-52:O Prophet, We
have made lawful to you those of your wives, whose dowry you have paid, and
those women who came into your possession out of the slave-girls granted by
Allah; and the daughters of your paternal uncles and aunts, and of your
maternal uncles and aunts, who have migrated with you; and the believing woman
who gives herself to the Prophet, if the Prophet may desire to marry her.This privilege is for you only, not
for the other believers.We
know what restrictions We have imposed on the other
believers concerning their wives and slave-girls.(You have been given an exception) so that
there may be no hindrance to you; and Allah is Oft Forgiving, Most
Merciful.You are granted the option that
you may keep aside any of your wives you please, and keep to yourself any of
them you please; and call back any of them you had set aside.There is no blame on you in this regard.Thus, it is expected that their eyes will be
cooled and they will not grieve, and will all remain well satisfied with
whatever you give them.Allah knows
whatever is in your hearts, for Allah is All Knowing, All Forbearing.No other women are lawful to you after this,
nor are you allowed to have other wives instead of them, even if their beauty
may be very pleasing to you.You may,
however, have slave-girls. Allah is watchful over everything.

And one of the blessings of the
many marriages of the Prophet (saws) was that a huge percentage of the
traditions of the Messenger of Allah (saws) are related by his wives.Most,if not all the deeds that the Prophet
(saws) did in the secrecy of his house,were related to the believers by his many wives,so that the believers may have a perfect
example of a perfect human being to follow.

It is narrated in
an authentic tradition that the Messenger of Allah (saws) said, “Relate from
me, even if it is one sentence”.

Almost all the leaders of mankind, have two lives. The one which is public is
published and for all to see, hear, and know.The other life they live is private with their wives and children, and
in the secrecy of their house.This
life all the leaders try to keep secret from their followers and subjects.

But the whole life of the
Messenger of Allah (saws) was to be a perfect example for all mankind, until
the end of time.Thus, his public life,
and his private life, had to be made available for all the believers, so that
they may follow the perfect man in all his deeds.No leader in the annuls
of time have allowed this level of transparency like the leader of the
believers, The Last Messenger of Allah (saws).

And his wives were instrumental
in relating the hadiths of the Messenger (saws),
which he did in the privacy of their house and their bedrooms.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit
is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of
me.Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the
Only Source of Strength.